


The Saga of Sexy Sousuke

by kitcatkandy



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Rin is a dork, rin loves sousuke's body, sousuke is sexy, that's basically it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-16 15:03:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7272880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitcatkandy/pseuds/kitcatkandy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The title is basically what it is. Sousuke is fucking sexy, and Rin knows it, and he's pretty sure Sousuke knows it too. Each chapter is really just Sousuke being sexy and Rin trying not to admit that he's getting all fired up. Because everyone needs Sousuke being a little bit of a tease.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shower Me With Your Sexy

**Author's Note:**

> So I rescued myself from the angst that is _the Arabian fic_ , and decided to write this because, why the hell not? Sousuke is a sexy son of a bitch, and Rin loves his body, and that's really all there is to it.

Sousuke is an alien. Or, alternatively, just a very lucky son of a bitch.

This is the only conclusion Rin can reach, because how else can you explain Sousuke's perfect body, his godlike dimensions, the depth and clarity of his smug teal eyes? Sousuke's a real lady-killer - all the girls they meet on the street know it too, and stare at him as he walks past. They'd probably gravitate towards him too - girls are  _bold_  these days, Rin shudders - except that he usually has a resting ‘fuck off’ face which causes even the most courageous of suitors to reconsider their options. Rin's a little sore about his best friend's seemingly endless pot of brooding charisma, but hell, he's not  _jealous_!

Okay,  _maybe_  before Sousuke had come to Samezuka and when he'd gone out by himself, he'd drawn his fair share of stares from women, and  _maybe_  now they don’t look at him as often as they do his childhood friend, and  _maybe_  now more often than not when they approach him it’s to ask for the number of his “tall, dark stranger friend”, but no, he's not  _jealous_ , for God's sake. Sousuke is his best friend, after all.

Okay, maybe he is, just a little bit.

Rin is lying on the lower bunk in Sousuke's bed (heaven only knows why Sousuke has a goddamn bunk bed when he lives alone) and reflecting about the unfairness of life. They've gone home to Iwatobi for the summer, and Sousuke's letting him crash at his place for a while, just until Gou and their mother get home from some dumb three-day spa trip. Why they need three days at a spa, doing absolutely nothing, is beyond Rin's comprehension as a mere man.

Suddenly, he hears the sound of the shower stop. He looks up casually, only to hear Sousuke's voice.

 "Hey, Rin," he calls, and Rin scowls, because even his voice is fuck-me sexy - not that he would ever say so to the other man's face, of course. Sousuke would just get that stupid shit-eating grin on his face which would make Rin want to punch him, so, no, he's never going to compliment Sousuke's voice or his body or even his fucking  _eyes_  again. He doesn't reply, choosing instead to huddle up closer inside his blanket and close his eyes, pretending not to hear anything Sousuke is saying. After a few moments of the latter trying to unsuccessfully call his attention, he hears a loud sigh, and the squeaking of the shower door. There's a quiet rustle of fabric, a soft swish of terry cloth over skin, and then the sound of Sousuke's wet feet squeaking on the bathroom tiles. Rin curses - he  _swears_  Sousuke does that on purpose, because he knows how much Rin dislikes that sound. He burrows tighter into the bedsheets, and squeezes his eyes more tightly closed.

Rin hears the sound of the bathroom door opening, and the familiar sound of Sousuke shaking his head to get all the droplets out of his hair. He has to smile a little at that, because the image of Sousuke violently shaking his head, his floppy wet hair swishing around like that of a large husky dog, is always one that never fails to bring amusement to him. After he towels off his hair, Rin hears the sound of his soft footsteps padding over towards him. He counts his steps with bated breath - one, two, three, four, five, and then the footsteps stop. He can't breathe.

Then he hears Sousuke's voice right next to his ear, and he can't help uttering a little squeak of surprise. He whirls around, scowl already in place, ready to give Sousuke a piece of his mind and maybe a little lecture about personal space, but suddenly he's staring into Sousuke's amused blue eyes and he can't think of anything to say. The acerbic words die an early death in his throat, and he realises that Sousuke's face is very, very close. There's a vague five-o-clock shadow across the sharp line of his chin - goddamnit, he's  _Japanese_ , he  _shouldn't_  have facial hair heavy enough to leave a shadow - and Rin can see every detail of his sculpted, thin lips. His eyes latch onto a droplet of water suspended along the side of Sousuke's face, and he follows its trail down the angular squareness of Sousuke's jaw, down the dark defined hollow of his throat, down the smooth expanse of his left pectoral, over the toned, bunched flesh of his abdominals, and all the way down... below. Rin realises that Sousuke's only wearing a towel over his nether regions, and he swallows, hard. His throat is dry.

Then he realises that Sousuke's been calling his name, and that he now has the exact same shit-eating grin on his face as when Rin had told him (it had been an accident, and Rin had been sleepy and off his guard, and that's the story he's sticking with no matter what) that he'd better tone the sexiness down a notch or he'd get some girls pregnant just by looking at them.

"Rin," Sousuke calls, and this time he extends one large hand and shakes Rin firmly on the shoulder. "Rin, you didn't answer me when I asked for a shirt."

Rin gives him a fearsome scowl, one which he has called specially from the depths of hell for Sousuke, and pulls the blanket over his head. "I didn't hear you," he mumbles sulkily, and despises Sousuke for being the only one who can reduce him to this petulant, childish state. Sousuke gives a soft laugh - shit, it's that low, rumbly one which always does something weird to his insides - and there's a quiet swish as he stands up. From the bunk above him comes rustling sounds as Sousuke rummages through the clothes in his bag, looking for something to wear. He hasn't unpacked yet, and neither has Rin.

Now that there isn't the slightest chance of Sousuke catching him in the act, Rin cautiously moves his head out from the blankets. No harm getting a little close-up, amirite? No homo between bros, after all. Then he realises Sousuke's crotch is directly in front of his face, separated only by the terry cloth of the towel wrapped around his waist. He feels a queer roiling sensation in his chest as he realises that, true to form, everything about Sousuke is bigger than average. Including his bulge.

And then he watches in a kind of horrified trance as he sees the knot tying the towel around Sousuke's waist start to slip, and come undone, jostled by the friction of his slim hips moving around restlessly. Rin watches as the towel starts to slip lower, lower, all the way down, and he can see the dark line of hair trailing and deepening down the hard line of his abdomen. He sees the jut of bone at Sousuke's hip - the last bastion of hope keeping the towel attached to his body - and suddenly he finds that he's not breathing again, because somehow he wants the towel to stay solidly  _up_ , thank you very much, but somehow he also wants it to slide all the way down.

He’s never realised happy trails could be so sexy, mainly because everyone around him usually shaves their entire body to increase their speed in the water - you don't see sharks speeding around in the ocean with hair on their abdomen, after all - and he's just never seen anyone's happy trail before.  _Shit_ , it is fucking _sexy_ , and he has to remind himself that he is  _not gay_  in the least for his best friend. But Sousuke's skin is dark, and tanned, and it looks deliciously touchable. Rin doesn't know if he can stop himself from reaching out and just  _following_  that trail all the way down and again, so he clenched his fists and digs his nails into his palm. He bites his lip and feels his teeth draw blood as he watches the towel move, slowly, tantalisingly, centimetre by centimetre, over the smooth expanse of his abdomen...

Then, just as the towel begins to come apart, and he sees the last slip of the knot begin to falter, Sousuke catches it with his hand. "Whoops," he says casually, and deftly hitches it up his body, re-tying the knot with a few swift twists of his fingers. Rin exhales explosively, and then covers his face with his hands, hoping to hide his blush. Damn it, why is he blushing in the first place? He thinks detachedly that this would be a highly ignominious way to die.

"Why the hell are you taking so long to find a shirt," he mutters, the words more of a statement than a question. Sousuke chuckles, a warm, friendly sound which sends shivers down Rin's spine. He likes that he's the only one who gets to see this side of Sousuke, that he's the only one who makes Sousuke relaxed enough to laugh around him, but he also doesn’t like feeling his stomach and respective innards twist themselves into pieces whenever he hears Sousuke express any kind of amusement at all.

"You're the one who always tells me I dress like an old man," he rumbles. "Just making sure I don't embarrass you when we go out later."  _You could never embarrass me_ , Rin wants to tell him, because, although he'll never admit it, he likes Sousuke's fashion sense. It's no-nonsense and sensible and incredibly hot in a simple kind of way, and besides, he can't see Sousuke in any other clothes. Even from young Sousuke had chosen plain chequered shirts over the trendier and more fashionable outfits Rin wore. Besides, he doesn’t need fancy clothes to stand out, and anyway he doesn't like exposing too much skin. Rin has teased him about that countless times - he's a swimmer, after all, and exposing his arms or his abdomen is nothing new, and nothing to be ashamed of, but this is one thing which has never really caught on.

(Besides, Rin doesn't think he could handle it if Sousuke started dressing like him. He's seen Sousuke in a tank top before, and God, people are always teasing Rin about his cleavage, but actually, the one they should really be jealous of is Sousuke.)

"Just make sure you don't catch a cold," he answers, and he sounds less acerbic than he had planned. "Walking around half-naked like that, you're just asking to fall sick."

"Yes, mom," Sousuke quips in reply, and Rin clearly hears the teasing laugh in his voice. The little shit, he tries to be nice and caring and this is what he gets? Fine, see if he cares when Sousuke gets laid up in bed because he refused to listen to his advice. It would serve him right.

Sousuke finally finishes rattling about with his things, and yanks out a dark blue shirt. He pulls it over his head with a swift movement, and Rin peeks out surreptitiously between his fingers at the way his biceps bunch and twist. Seriously, does one really need to exert so much strength to wear a single fucking  _shirt_? Sometimes, he swears, Sousuke's doing these things on purpose.

After a few exaggerated seconds of Sousuke putting his shirt on, he pulls something out of his bag. It's a pair of boxers, and Rin's mouth goes dry. Again. He holds his breath unconsciously as he watches Sousuke's hand stray to the knot on his waist, his index finger slipping in between the loop, his other hand resting on the towel and ready to push it down, when he pauses, and looks at Rin.

The grin on his face is a masterpiece. It's smug and innocent and terribly captivating all at the same time - where had he learned to smile like that, Rin wonders angrily, because he sure never learned it in Samezuka - and its meaning is clear: “Gotcha.”

"I'm flattered by your attentions, really I am," Sousuke says drily, "but I'd appreciate a little privacy to put on my underpants."

Rin's face is a flaming mess of colour, and he absolutely detests the way Sousuke's smirk widens a little bit, like it's on the verge of turning into a full-blown chuckle, or maybe even - Rin shudders - a  _laugh_. He hopes Sousuke doesn't laugh. He's embarrassed enough already as is.

"Who’s looking at _you_ ," Rin grumbles, but he swiftly turns to face the other way and takes out his phone. He surreptitiously googles ‘is everyone a little bit gay’.

"What're you looking at?" Sousuke rumbles, his breath glancing off the curve of Rin's ear, and the latter almost leaps out of his bed. He tries his best, though, and ends up with a bump on the head. Sousuke really needs to stop that voice-beside-the-ear thing, because one day Rin's going to have a heart attack and he's going to come back as a ghost and haunt him to the end of his days.

He glares daggers at Sousuke and rubs the top of his head furiously. "Stop  _doing_  that," he snaps, waving his hands inarticulately in the air. "Stop doing that... thing... Whatever it is you're doing. Stop emitting pheromones or whatever steroids you're on. Stop it right now!"

He knows he probably sounds like he's high on drugs and like a complete incoherent fool, but he can't help it. Sousuke's always inspired feelings of comfort and absolute happiness in Rin, but sometimes, when he's being an asshole -  _like right now_  - Rin doesn't know what he feels about Sousuke and his goddamn body, and it makes him angry. He wonders why he has such a primitive reaction to Sousuke's body. It's not like seeing him naked is a thing he's uncomfortable or unused to - they  _swim_  together, for God's sake, and they're practically half-naked next to each other all the time, and he'd even felt a spark of pride when Ai had commented under his breath in awe: “So  _that's_  the body of a nationally-ranked swimmer.” So yes, he's proud of Sousuke's body, proud that it makes other swimmers stare at him in both awe and envy, but sometimes it makes him feel strangely hot and bothered and he doesn't like feeling that way about his best friend.

Sousuke picks the phone up from between his fingers and twirls it around absent-mindedly. “Hmm, I wonder what Rin’s password is,” he says aloud, tapping his chin with a mock-serious expression. “I wonder if it’s the same password he used for his diary when we were eight years old.” Rin’s face darkens, because of course it’s the same password, and how does Sousuke even still remember that? He lunges for the phone – heaven only knows what would happen if Sousuke finds out what he’s been googling – and they end up toppling off the bed and onto the floor. Rin’s somewhat relieved that Sousuke lands on his right shoulder instead of his left, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to show any mercy. He jabs his elbow into Sousuke’s stomach, hard, and Sousuke chokes, his fingers going limp. The phone thuds down on the ground and they stare at it for a few moments.

Then Rin starts laughing, and Sousuke joins in, his deep bass rumble melding perfectly with Rin’s cheerful baritone. They grip onto one another’s biceps and laugh until their stomachs hurt, and Rin collapses onto Sousuke’s chest, his own still heaving with laughter.

It’s then that he realises that Sousuke’s still only wearing a shirt, and his boxers, and that they’re pressed close – particularly close – together.

He feels something change in the air around him, a queer tension which infuses the air and makes all the hairs on the back of his neck stiffen up. Unconsciously, as he always does when he feels unsure of anything, he looks into Sousuke’s eyes, and that’s his first mistake. Sousuke’s eyes darken into liquid blue, and Rin can see hunger and a strange desire blossom within them. He can see every brilliant glistening eyelash, every strand of dark hair on his head; he can feel his own breathing grow heavier, can feel the hardness of Sousuke’s rising chest under his fingers. He can feel the bulge of Sousuke’s underwear pressing insistently against his inner thigh, and if he thought he was blushing furiously earlier, it’s nothing compared to the shade of violent purple his face is right now. Sousuke’s shirt has ridden up, and Rin’s eyes trail unwillingly down to the skin of his abdomen. There is a faint sheen on the tanned expanse, whether from sweat or the shower water Rin does not know, but it gleams in the dim light of the room, and he forces himself to look back into Sousuke’s face. Sousuke looks steadily back into his eyes, and his tongue flicks out, very deliberately, to lick at his lips. He opens his mouth to speak.

And Rin’s phone rings.

The sound is like an alarm cutting through the tension in the air, and Rin automatically scrambles off Sousuke, reaching for the phone on the ground. He grabs it like it’s a lifeline and he’s been stranded on a raft in the middle of the sea, and holds on tight, unlocking the screen with a finger that isn’t quite steady. He dimly hears Sousuke sigh, behind him, and then the sounds of the bigger man leisurely getting to his feet. He stares mutely at the bright screen of his phone, eyes scanning unseeingly over the black text running over his screen. It’s a text from Gou, a cheery greeting with an emoji at the end, telling him that they’re really enjoying their spa trip and they miss him tons and they’ll be back soon. Rin refuses to look back at Sousuke until he hears the sound of the bunk bed ladder creaking, and a loud ‘whump!’ as Sousuke settles himself on the upper bunk.

Only then does Rin allow himself a last quick peek at Sousuke, hoping he won’t notice, but unfortunately, Sousuke is hanging over the metal bars at the side of his mattress, looking down at Rin in obvious amusement. Rin’s face is dusted with a light blush, and just as he’s about to say something to diffuse the tension, Sousuke beats him to it.

“You always did prefer the bottom, didn’t you? I remember we used to fight over it.” he asks, his voice deep. He crosses his arms behind his head and flips over so he faces the ceiling. Rin can’t see his face anymore, but he can hear the smirk in his voice as he says, “But I think… Yes, I think, now, I prefer the top.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have ideas for future chapters where Sousuke is sexy and Rin appreciates dat sexy (I cannot emphasise this enough) just leave a comment and I'll probably take it up! Or message me on [tumblr](http://kitcatkandy.tumblr.com/) and we can squeal together <3


	2. Serve Me Up With Hot Sauce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oOoOoOh.... Have some butler Sousuke to make up for the long wait :))

_Why the fuck does he look so good_ , is the first thing that comes into Rin's mind. Because it's true.

They're standing in the middle of their dorm room, and Sousuke's just come out of the small communal toilet they share. His hair is sticking up in clumps as he brushes his teeth, and there is a dark shadow across his chin. He's just woken up -  _late_ , the particularly anal part of Rin's mind reminds him - and has just spent the better part of the last hour lying in bed with his pillow over his head, pretending he isn’t listening to Rin's increasingly-irate calls.

Their phone alarm's rung a thousand years ago, and Rin's already dressed up and ready, sitting on the bottom bunk. He'd finally managed to wrangle Sousuke out of bed after threatening to "climb up there and beat the living shit out of him", a threat he'd never actually meant to fulfil, but when Sousuke had acknowledged that truth by turning over and pretending to go back to sleep, he'd decided that was it. Rin had grabbed hold of the rings and started of haul himself up.

That had been when Sousuke had finally decided to lug himself out of bed, because he knew and Rin knew and likely a lot of other people knew that Rin was a huge dork, and would probably have fallen off the ladder halfway-through in his consternation and anxiety to get to the top bunk as soon as possible. Rin's not a patient man, and he's definitely fallen off a bunk bed ladder before (as Gou and Sousuke never fail to remind him). It had been the most ignominious few days of his life, having to lie in bed all day and wait for his sprained ankle to heal.

And now Sousuke's just lumbered out of the bathroom, still grumbling about what the time is (it's actually just seven in the morning, thank you very much, a perfectly godly time at which to stir), and it's  _absolutely fucking unfair that he looks as good as he does_.

Rin hates good-looking people, he really does. Okay, he's fine with Haru and Makoto and Rei, and really, Nagisa's more  _cute_  than handsome, but he's never hated someone more than he hates Sousuke now. The way his hair ruffles and turns up at the base of his neck is absolutely unfair, as is the way his sleep-lowered eyelids droop heavily over his eyes and fan his long lashes over the high curve of his cheekbone. Rin can't see his eyes, seeing as he's practically still half-asleep, but then again, it's probably for the best. Sousuke's eyes, as he's often thought before, can either kill a man, or bring him to orgasm.

"Where're my jeans, Rin?" he asks blearily, opening the door of the cupboard and yanking out a blue polo tee. He blinks several times when Rin doesn't answer, then turns slowly and looks at him sitting on the bottom bunk, arms crossed, his eyes sparking with fury. And his body clad in a butler's uniform.

"Whoops," Sousuke says blandly, dropping the polo on the floor and reaching in deeper to the cupboard. He pulls out the butler uniform hung untidily on one of the hangers, and straightens it out, scrutinising its creases carefully. Then he shucks off his shirt, pulling the white dress shirt on his shoulders and buttoning it up all the way. Rin manages not to ogle (too much) at his rock-solid pectorals, the long, rippling line of his lats, the bulge of his triceps as he shifts the white cotton securely over his body –

Okay,  _maybe_  he's not all that good at this subtle ogling thing, but he's practically already given up on trying to be subtle ever since the infamous _towel incident_ , so he might as well make the best of it.

Next are the black dress pants. Sousuke ignores Rin's presence in the room and simply yanks off his pyjama pants, revealing a pair of dark, chequered boxers. Rin has to turn his face to the side to hide his blush. Sousuke's become a lot more open about nudity - in front of him, at least - ever since the Regionals, and he wonders what's changed.

By the time he's facing Sousuke again, Sousuke's already put on the black dress pants, and now he's fiddling impatiently with the cuff-links. His fingers are too large and inexperienced to handle the tiny metal studs, and so he's struggling, occasionally letting the links fall to the ground with a little  _clank_  when they slip from his grasp. Seeing this comical scene, Rin can't help laughing - it's just hilarious to see the huge figure of Sousuke fumbling around with his wrists, dropping things left, right and centre while he tries to fix up his uniform.

Instead of getting angry or flustered, Sousuke simply turns an amused smile at him, pausing in his movements. "Why don’t you come over and give me a hand," he calls, bending to pick up the link that has inopportunely fallen on the floor, and  _Rin absolutely does not look at his behind_ , "instead of sitting there laughing at me?"

Rin stands, smoothing out the crinkled surface of his shirt, and makes his way over to Sousuke. He can feel the smugness of his smile, and does nothing to hide it. "Looks like there's  _one_  thing at least you're not good at, Mr Know-It-All," he purrs, taking the cuff-links Sousuke is offering to him on his open palm. He tries not to flinch as his fingers touch the warmth of Sousuke's hand.

Sousuke’s fingers are rough, calloused, and Rin unconsciously presses his palm to Sousuke's, after transferring the cuff links to his other hand. "Your hand is so  _big_ ," he mutters jealously, realising for the first time just how much Sousuke's actually grown. Sousuke grins, and he curves his fingers over Rin's. "I did a lot of growing while you were gone," he admits, bashfully - as if that were anything to be  _ashamed_  about, Rin thinks furiously - and restlessly shifts his weight to his other foot.

They stay there silently for a few moments, Rin revelling in the heat emanating from Sousuke's hand and blushing a little at how  _good_  Sousuke's calloused fingers feel against his own, but then the clock trills, and Rin jumps a foot into the air. " _Fuck_ ," he cries, dashing the cuff links onto his palm and feverishly picking out one of them. " _It's eight o' clock, we're going to be late!_ "

He fastens the metal studs onto the starched wrists of Sousuke's dress shirt expertly, his fingers floundering a little as he tries to hide his embarrassment and the blush on his face. Sousuke doesn't say anything, and only grins in amusement at him when he finally looks up from his task, his face, thankfully, relatively unblushing.

"Thanks, Rin," Sousuke says, and his tone is that soft, gentle caress which immediately makes Rin's face flare up again. It's been doing that a lot more often these days, and, as Rin angrily stomps back to his former perch and crosses his arms across his chest forbiddingly, he wonders why.

Sousuke laughs quietly, and pulls on the black morning coat with a quick twist of his wrists, rolling his shoulders as he eases it swiftly onto his body. The coat fits snugly around his body, and highlights the broadness of his shoulders in contrast to his slim hips. Rin feels his mouth water, and so he swallows, hard.

"When you're done staring," Sousuke's sardonic voice breaks into his thoughts, startling him out of his reverie, "we can get going. I'm all ready, you know, and we're going to be late."

Rin jumps to his feet as if he's been scalded, and glares angrily at Sousuke, who’s wearing _that grin_ , the one that always makes Rin want to punch him. "Whose fault is that?" Rin snaps, hurrying to the door and yanking on his shoes. "Who lay in bed and refused to get up? Because it sure wasn't me, I can tell you that."

Sousuke laughs, a good-natured laugh, and joins him at the entrance, pulling on his own socks and shoes. "I'm sorry, Rin," he murmurs in a placatory tone, tying the shoelaces with quick and deft twirls of his fingers. The laugh is still there in his voice, and Rin puffs out his cheeks in mock annoyance. But they both know he's bluffing, and Sousuke gently cuffs him on the back of his head when they finally stand.

Sousuke looks _good_ in the suit. The day they’d taken out the suits from the storeroom to try them on, Sousuke had bowed to him, and with a devilish smile, had asked, “How may I serve you, master?” Thankfully, at that time, Rin had still been in full possession of his wits, and so he had managed to laugh off the tease with a pointed rejoinder. But now, just remembering it makes him go hot and cold all over, and he tries not to wonder what it would be like, really having Sousuke as his butler.

They walk down the hallway, Rin talking about Gou's most recent obsession with rainbow-coloured ribbons, and how she'd actually  _tried_  to force him to wear some of hers as his shoelaces. Sousuke interjects with a murmured "But they'd suit you so well", and Rin laughs, stopping to knee him in the backside. Sousuke smiles, and brushes a strand of hair behind Rin's ear. His fingers are warm, soft, and Rin's face automatically bursts into a flush of colour. His cheeks burn as he shakes Sousuke's hand away and rearranges his hair clumsily, trying to avoid looking at the smirk on Sousuke's face.

He busies himself hurriedly with the strands at the base of his enclosure, pulling them up into a ponytail and tying a quick knot. When he's satisfied that he's sufficiently composed again, he looks up at Sousuke with a glare that could freeze the dead. Sousuke is  _whistling_ , damn it, whistling the theme song of some old Looney Tunes cartoon they'd watched as kids. Rin knees him once again, for good measure, and they walk the rest of the way to the booth laughing and bickering.

When they get there, Rin automatically takes charge. Some of the other swim club members are there, busy getting ready, and some are changing into their costumes. Rin spots a very dejected-looking Momo sitting in the corner, crying into Nitori's shoulder, and he, very prudently, decides not to interfere. He pulls out the shift schedule for the day, and briefs all the third-years on their butler duties, before packing the maids off to the entrance to practise their opening dance. By the time he's done yelling at the maids, he looks for Sousuke, but he's already gone.

Sousuke's supposed to do the first shift as doorman, but he'd not been very happy about it when the duties had been read out. Rin heads to the kitchen to get him, and sure enough, he's there, brooding over a box of pancake mix and staring moodily at the eggs. Rin snaps his fingers, jolting him out of his reverie, and Sousuke gives him a sullen look. "You know I don't like talking to strangers," he says. "Why would you give me the doorman shift? I refuse. I'm going to stay right here and do kitchen duty all day." Rin grins, leaning against the doorway, his arms crossed.

Sousuke has already shucked off his jacket and rolled his shirt-sleeves up to his elbows in preparation for cooking, and Rin secretly admires the tendons of his wrists, standing out tense and strong against the dark expanse of his skin. Sometimes Sousuke gets childish and petulant, and Rin honestly enjoys it, honestly enjoys being the mature voice of reason in their relationship,  _for once_.

"Nope," he maintains stubbornly, pointing at the jacket abandoned in one corner of the room. "I put you on doorman duty so you could overcome your fatal fear of the rest of humanity. Besides, you  _know_  one third of the girls from the neighbouring schools agreed to come so they could see you in a butler suit, so go out there and break some hearts, okay?" He holds out his clenched fist, and Sousuke sighs resignedly. They bump fists, and Sousuke claps him none-too-gently on the back as he walks out, throwing his jacket casually over his arm as he goes.

"Service with a smile, okay?" Rin calls cheekily after him, watching Sousuke walk towards the entrance of the café to give some of the juniors a hand with the decorations. He acknowledges the order with a brief nod of the head, and Rin smiles, satisfied. He knows if Sousuke agrees to doing something, he won't do it halfway; he can be counted on to do a good job.

Rin's doing first duty as kitchen staff, so he sets to work breaking eggs and moulding the dough, making it into the shape of Samezuka-chan and putting the trays of dough in the oven. The kitchen is hot, insanely hot, with convection currents of hot air rising from the oven heating up, and he sees now why Sousuke had taken off his jacket. Thinking about Sousuke, his face grows hot again, as he remembers the thin trail of sweat that had slid down the side of his jaw and dipped into the vee-shaped hollow of his throat. He shudders, as he thinks about what it would be like to press his fingers into that hollow, to trace that trail of sweat with his tongue...

Abruptly, he jerks out of his trance, realising with a hot pang of shame that he's just been fantasising about his best friend, and that he's actually been considering what sex with a  _man_  would feel like. Clearly, there is something very wrong with him, so he turns the volume of his playlist up loud and refuses to let any more thoughts of Sousuke and his  _goddamn fuck me eyes_  enter his mind.

***

After the first hour, Rin is sweating through the cotton of his shirt. He's made enough Samezuka pies and shark-shaped Konnyaku jelly to last him a few lifetimes, and the kitchen is starting to look a little worse for wear. Occasionally, Minami or Uozumi dart in through the curtains with a yelled "One more omurice" or a frantically hissed "Three more Samezuka butter cakes, Rin-senpai". Kitchen work is hard work, especially in the first few hours of the festival, since it involves preparing dishes for later and cooking to meet the demands of the first rush of the crowd, and cooking has never been a great passion of his. He is relieved when the clock strikes ten, and one of the other third-years comes in to relieve his shift.

Rin looks at his watch - he's got a ten-minute break, and so, grinning, he makes his way to the entranceway to see how Sousuke's doing. He spots Momo hiding in a corner, and spends a precious few minutes to yank him out and send him on his way with a stern rebuke. When he finally reaches the entrance, he raises a hand in greeting, but almost immediately flees behind the nearby pillar the moment he sees Sousuke standing at the entrance. An involuntary blush has swept across his face, dusting his cheekbones with blotchy patches of red -  _why the hell does Sousuke look so good?_  

The black coat hugs his broad frame nicely, outlining the curve of his shoulders and the perky roundness of his behind. The tails of the morning coat brush tantalisingly against the backs of his thighs with his every movement, and the pants rustle restlessly every time he shifts his weight.

Rin's tongue slips out involuntarily to moisten his lips, and, realising this, he smacks his palms against his head a few times, hoping to clear his mind. Sousuke's deep voice rumbles out occasionally, delivering the customary welcoming lines with his usual stoic aplomb. Rin can hear the nervous, excited giggles of the girls as they enter and receive a menu from Sousuke, and suddenly his heart is gripped by an overweening feeling of jealousy - jealousy of Sousuke, or of the girls themselves, he does not know.

As the gaggles of girls enter the café and walk past him, he can hear their high-pitched, unguarded whispers as they squeal amongst themselves about the man who had just received them.  _Did you see his shoulders? Oh my god, I think I actually almost swooned back there. I don't know about you, but I'd totally bang that guy._  

Rin winces at the crude language, and rolls his eyes. Really, what's so good about Sousuke, he thinks angrily to himself. He  _might_  look good, with his brooding manner and those insanely-broad shoulders and that god-like physique, but inside he’s really a huge dork. Anyone who really knew him wouldn't think of him as ‘cool’, Rin thinks furiously, not when they've -  _he's_  - seen Sousuke get lost in his own hometown, not when he's seen him trip over his own pile of laundry, not when he's seen him wake up in the morning with his pants the wrong way around. Really, he's a huge nerd, and the only reason why he's ‘cool’ is his amazing inability to socialise. And, really, shouldn't that be more of a disadvantage than an advantage?

Rin's sufficiently recovered by now to get up from his squatting position and make his way over to where Sousuke's standing. Sousuke's greeting a particularly rambunctious group of girls, with a golden-haired one at their fore. She's particularly bold, brushing their fingers together as she takes the menus from him, and giggling as she gestures at his suit. "You've got a nice body," she simpers, her eyes running appreciatively over Sousuke's biceps. The rest of her friends act as a sort of Greek chorus, piping up with their own calls of assent.

Encouraged by the cheers of her friends, the girl takes it one step further, and pokes mischievously at Sousuke's chest. "I'd like to see you in a maid costume," she murmurs, her red lips puckering pseudo-seductively. "Where can I sign up for that?"

Sousuke's mouth twists, and knowing him, he's just about to deliver a blistering retort - he can be a sassy bitch when he wants to be - but then he visibly stops himself, and plasters a smile on his face, which only someone who barely knew him would have mistaken as genuine.

"Unfortunately, that's not happening," he says, his voice bland. He tries to open the curtains to the next group in line, but the girl refuses to let him go, continuing to chatter on, this time gripping his bicep with a claw-like hand. Sousuke's smile ossifies, and his left eye's doing that weird twitchy thing it always does whenever he's about to let loose.

Rin decides it's time to step in. He absolutely can  _not_  stand the asinine, lopsided smile on her face, and so he strides over quickly, slinging his arm over Sousuke’s shoulder, and smiling easily at the girl. Sousuke starts as he feels Rin’s arm on him, and turns surprised eyes to meet his, but Rin glares at him meaningfully. An amused twinkle comes into Sousuke’s eyes, and the corners of his mouth lift.

"We got a problem here, babe?" Rin says to Sousuke, in as seductive a tone as he can muster, and one of the girls emits a muffled squeal.

Sousuke’s grin widens. "Nothing's wrong...  _babe_ ," he replies, and Rin blushes at the caressing note in his voice. He curses inwardly - the term of endearment had been a bad choice, and now he knows he's going to suffer for the rest of his life. But he's gone and done it, so he might as well go through all the way.

In for a penny, in for a pound, so they say, and so, with a sudden flash of inspiration, he reaches down and takes a firm grasp of Sousuke's firm bottom, enjoying the sudden jerk of the latter's shoulders as he feels the hand on his behind. He grins mischievously, then turns a pointed stare on the girl. "We've got our break now, so if you don't mind..." he purrs, his voice a masterpiece of control and connotation. The insinuation is obvious, and she reddens, yanking her hand off Sousuke's bicep. With an infuriated glare at the both of them, she splutters wordlessly for a few seconds, then stomps off heavily, the rest of her gang following hurriedly.

Rin sighs, a deep, long sigh of relief, and turns his eyes back to Sousuke. "That was easy," he says, his voice teasing, but then he stops short at the look in Sousuke's eyes. There is a queer fire in his eyes, a strange burn which is so different from his usual impassivity, and it sends shivers down Rin's spine. Rin feels his heart skip a beat.

Then Sousuke turns away, his shoulders shaking with laughter he's trying to repress. Rin scowls, and cuffs him none-too-softly on the back. He pushes Sousuke out of the way, greeting the next set of customers with a winning smile and quickly handing over the required number of menus. Sousuke's replacement for the next shift rushes up, wiping his hands on his pants, and Rin frowns disapprovingly at him, before yanking Sousuke away. Some of the other swim team members wolf-whistle at the two of them, having seen the entire display, and Rin flips them off, turning his face to hide his blush.

"Don't take too long on your break, Captain!" one of the third-years calls out mockingly, and Rin turns a glare on him, a glare which promises death. Sousuke is racked by new convulsions at this display of animosity, and Rin shakes him desperately.

Finally, they reach a quiet corner of the café, and Sousuke collapses, still laughing. His deep chuckles roll throughout his big body, sending convulsion after convulsion through him. Rin plops himself down next to him, crossing his arms sullenly and waiting for him to stop. Finally, after a few more seconds of this torture, Sousuke finally slows down, his breathing ragged.

Rin smacks him softly on the back of his head. “You done laughing at me, or can we have a proper conversation now?” he says sulkily. Sousuke turns his eyes towards him, and Rin quails at the deep smolder in his gaze.

“That was hilarious,” he says quietly, and because they’re sitting so close, Rin can feel the deep rumble of his voice thrum through his body. He shivers, involuntarily, because at this distance he can feel every breath of Sousuke’s against his skin, and he can feel the warmth of Sousuke’s arm against his, and _oh God there’s only a centimetre’s difference between them_ –

Sousuke laughs, gently, as if he can hear Rin’s thoughts. He glances quickly at the leather watch on his wrist, and holds out a hand to Rin. “Break’s over,” he says simply, hauling Rin to his feet. Rin glares at him. “And whose fault is that?” he snipes, although the animosity in his voice is a little less subdued than he would have preferred it to be. Trying to hide his embarrassment, he fidgets with Sousuke’s cuff links, which have come undone.

“What were you even doing with your hands?” he mutters, clicking the links back into place. “You’re really clumsy, you know that?”

Sousuke makes a sound of assent somewhere deep in the back of his throat, and when Rin lifts his eyes to meet his gaze, he smiles. It is a soft, tender smile, but then the tips of his mouth curve upwards wickedly in a smirk. “We both know that,” he says, his voice tinged with laughter, then he pauses, meaningfully. Rin’s hands fly to cover his ears, but he’s too late. Sousuke presses his lips to Rin’s left ear, and Rin groans, an angry, heartfelt groan, as the word reverberates through his body: “ _Babe_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably update spontaneously bc I am absolutely the most awkward writer ever XD Comments and kudos are love!  
> [tumblr](http://kitcatkandy.tumblr.com/) Send me ideas you would like me to write!


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